Cancún!

Southwest opened up their international flights in October, which include Cabo and Cancun.  Cory said we should go and I said, sure, let's go for my birthday in November.

We made it to the airport in the morning.  It's a good thing it was an early flight so we had hoodies with us.  Otherwise we may not have worn them since we left such nice weather.

I'm grateful for Cory's hobby, which allows us to stay at beautiful hotels like this one, for free.

 That night we sought out a place to eat.  We came upon the Crab House, and Cory got to satisfy his craving for fresh lobster tail right away.

Every night our room keeper left robes on our beds in hopes we would wear them. 

 Ah...the beach.  Cory's paradise.

 At the airport we had spoken to a man who wanted to give us a tour of his hotel.  The tour included a 90-minute sales presentation for their vacation club.  It also included free buffet breakfast, lunch, drinks (all-inclusive), a free snorkeling tour, and discount tickets to see the ruins.  After we survived the sales pitch without agreeing to anything, we were escorted to the desk where they would "give us what they promised," but first, they sent us to a desk where an employee from Hard Rock Hotel was promising the same thing.  We had a couple unplanned days, and the freebies far outweighed the sales presentation, so we said sure. 

Here we are enjoying lunch and our first of many many virgin piña coladas and strawberry daiquiris.  This one I had was like a tart strawberry sucker...so delicious!

  Cory loves the ocean.  I was a good sport and went snorkeling with him, but I don't love it like he does.  It's just so unnatural to be able to have your face in the water and still breath.  Plus, I just hate salt water.

 It was a fun experience though, and I'm getting better with practice.  The catamaran provided for a fun environment and we were treated to a beautiful sunset on the ride back. 

The next morning we got up and headed next door to the Hard Rock Hotel.

 This hotel was amazing!  They just have such a fun environment with the rock atmosphere.  Compared to the JW Marriott, it was much more alive and exciting, appealing to a younger crowd for sure.

The all-inclusive thing is really appealing, but the prices were crazy!  During the tour our guide told us to guess how much a basic one-king-bed room costs per night: $700-$900 depending on the season. What?!?  Who spends that kind of money??  Anyway, we were happy to enjoy the luxury for a day.

 We decided on a fancy-schmancy teppan-style restaurant for lunch and this was the view from our seat inside the restaurant.

 And here was our fancy meal, chop-sticks only.  There are no prices listed on the menus because it's all free.  So fun!

Later that afternoon we had massages and facials, more perks for taking the tour and hearing their presentation.  That night we decided on a Brazilian Steak House for dinner and it did not disappoint.

That was probably my favorite day on our vacation.  It was the 5th anniversary of Cory being a partner in the company he's with, so it was a great day to celebrate

 The next day...not so relaxing.  This was our day to see the ruins.  We were taking a 2-hour bus ride each way.  Unfortunately we had a bunch of people to pick up on the way, and we ended up being on that bus for almost 4 hours that morning!  Not the best way to start the day.  We had people from all over on our bus including Switzerland, Columbia, and Egypt.

 We arrived at a market that had all sorts of over-priced souvenirs.  I had to really restrict Cory from purchasing more obsidian statues, etc.  I'm too practical for that kind of thing.  Seriously, who decorates with that stuff?

 After the market we got tickets to go down into the cenote, which is a pool in an underground cave.  I hadn't brought my swimming suit, but Cory tried it out and said the water was actually not too cold.  There he is with his arms in the air.

 Then the bus took us to an authentic Mexican buffet.  Those little tacos with shredded beef, rice and refried black beans were just what I had been craving.  We were treated to a Mayan dance after lunch.

 Then the bus took us to see the ruins at Chichun Itza.

 We had a tour guide who first showed us how to take some cool pictures.

Or we at least tried to take some cool pictures...

 The history was interesting.  We did get a few souvenirs from the Mayan vendors there.  It was kind of fun bargaining with them.  Apparently speaking Spanish got us some good deals.  We had driven for about an hour before we stopped at a plaza in a town along the way.  We couldn't pass up the local churros.  In Mexico they squirt caramel or chocolate sauce down the middle of the churro so it's not as dry.  I'm thinking of making that suggestion to the Costco food court.

That was a long day, and I was excited to celebrate my birthday by relaxing by the pool.

 This was perfect because I was right by the ocean, but in clean pool water with no sand in my toes.  This is how I roll.  I gave Cory permission to do a scuba diving course while I did my thing.

He was in the practice pool for an hour before they headed out to the reef.

 He didn't feel like an hour was nearly enough time to practice.  The instructors were very impatient, and it's just a miracle he managed to enjoy himself even the slightest bit.  He did get some cool pictures.

 Apparently there's this whole underwater museum, and this was one of the statues.

I had to stop a take in their wonderful fragrance every time I walked past this beautiful arrangement of lilies in the lobby.

 I decided on one of the Marriott restaurants for my birthday dinner.

 This embarrasses Cory, but I asked our server if they do a complimentary birthday dessert because it was my birthday.  She said she'd check and get back to me.  When we were finished with our entrees she said it would be ready in 5 minutes.  This big group came into the restaurant and then all of a sudden this disco light was on and all this loud music and banging was happening.  I figured the party was just getting started.  Then I realized the staff were coming to our table banging pots and pans!  I normally wouldn't be embarrassed at all by this, but I was caught off guard and my face was really warm.  Then Cory pointed out the screen, which blew my mind.

 How did they know my name??  They must have looked at our reservation (they ask for hotel and room number everywhere you go in Cancún).  Geniuses!  Oh, it was so cool, and look at that plate!  They had cut strawberries to look like roses, and it was Tres Leches cake.  I'm so glad I asked!  I have never seen such a grand birthday presentation at a restaurant (except maybe Los Hermanos with the sombrero and the loud singing).  It was a great way to end a very relaxing and WARM day in the sun.

Our last morning there we decided to walk along the beach for a couple miles.  On our way back we stopped at Aqua World to find me a sweatshirt.  (I knew the weather would be about 0 degrees when we landed in Denver and I wanted to be prepared.)

While there I decided I should try out the fish spa.  I had heard of these, but never actually did it myself before.

 Basically the fish nibble ("kiss") away the dead skin on your feet and restore the other skin.  According to Cory, I have way too much dead skin, and these fish were getting a feast.  My feet are already ticklish, so I had to pretend it wasn't fish all over me.  After a few minutes I got used to it.  The didn't get all the dead skin, but I would probably try it again. 

 After that we enjoyed a grand buffet breakfast at the hotel before we headed back to our room to shower, pack, and go to the airport.  It was a rough transition to go into such cold weather.  The temperature had dropped 30-40 degrees.  Fortunately, Cory's car started and we made it home safely.

We are so thankful to Cory's mom for watching our kids.  They couldn't have had a better babysitter.  She's so loving, compassionate and patient with them, and even Colin was asking for Grandma after she left.  It helped that the kids got to stay at our house and continue their regular routines.  She even shoveled our driveway a couple times while we were gone, not to mention the million other things she did to keep the household running.  We never could have gone on this vacation without her, and we are so grateful our kids got the rare opportunity to spend one-on-one time with her.